Seishun Ni Sono Namida Ga Hitsuyou Da
by KennyEchelon
Summary: Translated: Those tears are sorrowful in youth. Orihime wants to make her confession, however, unexpected events make it harder for her to tell Ichigo how she feels. Rukia has something planned... but what exactly is it? IchiHime one-shot.  slight OOC


*******IchiHime***** { ****Seishun Ni Sono Namida Ga Hitsuyou Da / ****Those tears are sorrowful in youth** **} **

_Set between the Rescue Rukia arc and the Bount arc._

ORIHIME'S POV (well, sort of)

You've wanted to tell Ichigo how you feel about him ever since you got back from the Soul Society. You'd wanted to do this before but every time you tried you couldn't do it.

You were stood outside his house, thinking to yourself "Isn't this a bit stalker-ish?" until you saw a flash of his violently orange hair and you knew he was leaving. You ran over to him and said "Hey Ichigo!" He glared, not knowing who it was. "Eek!" you thought "I forgot how scary he can be".

Then Ichigo saw your startled look and his face softened. It was moments like this which made you remember why you like him so much in the first place. His face only looked like that when he saw you; his eyes looked so gentle. "What is it, Orihime?" he asked. "Oh n-nothing! J-just saying hi!" you replied "Stupid Orihime! You got too scared again!" you whispered to yourself as you walked away.

That night it was Tatsuki's sleepover. Everyone was there including Rukia and Chizuru. "You try anything funny Chizuru, and I will kick your ass!" Tatsuki warned. "Don't worry, I just wanna hug my little 'Hime!" she sang as she threw herself at you. As you recovered from the shock, Tatsuki screamed "YOU ARE DEAD! I'LL RIP YOUR ARMS OFF, BITCH!" You and Rukia laughed as Tatsuki chased Chizuru around the bedroom screaming random insults at her.

"So…Have you told Ichigo how you feel yet?"

You turned to face Rukia with a look of shame on your face. "No…I haven't. I did try though! I saw him today but I just couldn't do it. I wish I could be as brave as you Rukia! You managed to tell Renji that you like him!"

"Yes, but that was hard. I mean I've known him for over a hundred years… it was weird y'know?" Rukia said "We practically grew up together in the Rukon district- he was like my brother."

"But now you're dating!" you exclaimed "You must have a few tips!"

"Well I do have a plan…" Rukia muttered. She whispered into your ear exactly what to do and you would follow the plan in a few days time…

The next morning you left the Arisawa household with a grin on your face. You were so excited because Rukia had organised a picnic for everyone next week. Uryu, Chad, Renji and Ichigo were coming as well, of course! You were slightly puzzled though: why had Rukia forbidden you for helping prepare the basket when you had loads of experience cooking for yourself after Sora died?

You had a new recipe and everything! It was carrot and broccoli ice cream: delicious and nutritious!

Next day at school, you bumped into Uryū when you came out of the Handicraft's Club together…literally. "Bye Uryū!" you sang cheerfully until you noticed he was on the full nursing what looked like the beginnings of a black eye.

"Oh sorry Uryū! It's my fault I wasn't looking where I was going and I have such a hard head y'know oh I'm sooo sorry forgive me?" you said in one breath.

"Whoa! Slow down Orihime! It's not your fault- I wasn't watching where I was going either." Uryū replied.

"Anyway, I nearly forgot!" you said "Has Rukia told you about our plans yet?"

"Yeah- the picnic. Karakura Park, right?" Uryū responded

"Well, I was hoping you might make a dress for me. A nice, summery one? You're really good at making girls clothes, y'know? Not so good at boy's clothes _but…"_

"Okay, Orihime. I get the picture." Uryū said "I was thinking you'd ask me that- you want to attract Ichigo's attention, right?"

"Oh no!" you squealed "Rukia told you that part as well?" Your face went a bright shade of red, about the same colour as Renji's hair.

"Yes she did. I think it's great of her help you like this. What would we do without her, hey? Good job Ichigo stopped her execution before it was too late!" You smiled "Yes, it was. Thank you Kurosaki-kun" you thought dreamily. Uryū caught the expression on your face and moved closer.

" I also think it's great that you are telling Ichigo how you feel. It probably means more to him than you think"

"Thanks Uryū. For the dress and the support" you said, hugging him. Pointing to his eye, you said "Do you want some ice for that?" He laughed but suddenly his face froze, staring over your shoulder.

You turned around to just catch a glare and a flash of orange hair as a certain someone ran off in the opposite direction round the corner.

"How much had he heard?" you wondered.

The next day was Friday, the last day of the week! The picnic was only tomorrow and you were excited about it, though you felt bad about yesterday. You were curious about what Ichigo had heard. He hadn't turned up at school that morning and you were worried about him.

"Had he heard what Uryū had said about my feelings for him and he doesn't feel the same way? Is that why he ran off?" you wondered.

As you looked at the floor, a tear rolled down your cheek.

Suddenly, you felt a pair of small but comforting arms around you. You looked up to see Rukia with a concerned expression on her face. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Ichigo heard me talking to Uryū and he ran off" you sobbed.

Rukia smiled. "Oh, I think I know what's wrong. Don't worry- everything should be fine tomorrow. Smile: we still have the picnic, remember?" she said. "Yes, I suppose" you sighed. Rukia handed you a tissue and you dried your eyes.

After Rukia had left, you gazed absent-mindedly out of the window. "Oh, Sora" you said with a sigh "You swore to protect me after we ran away from home but now you're gone you can't protect me from a broken heart."

The last lesson of the day was History. Usually you would pay attention because you were hard-working (well, at least that's what Tatsuki said) but today you were distracted. The lesson seemed to take forever and you were relieved when the bell rang, signalling the end of the day.

You walked home with Tatsuki and as you reached your front door you grinned "Bye Tatsuki! See ya tomorrow!" you sang. "Are you going to be alright tonight? You seemed pretty down earlier." Tatsuki asked.

"I'll be fine, trust me." you replied.

You woke up the next morning, the pale morning sunlight streaming through your window. Hanging on your wardrobe door was the dress Uryū dropped off last night.

It was amazing. He'd really put a lot of thought into it. It was pale green with a delicate blue floral pattern on the skirt part. This is exactly what you'd wanted! It even matched your hairpins perfectly!

You slid your hairpins in your hair with extra special care this morning. You were worried: "Just what was Rukia planning?" you wondered as you looked at yourself in the mirror.

You arrived at Karakura Park, the apprehension creating a knot in a your stomach. You were sooo nervous!

"Hello Orihime." said Michiru as you entered the gates to the park "Everyone's waiting for you." She led the way to where the picnic was set up. "We saved a spot for you Orihime!" called Rukia when you reached the blanket.

Your heart sank when you saw which spot Rukia had saved for you; it was right next to Ichigo.

"Oh no! He probably hates me now!" you thought.

Chad pulled the bento boxes out of the rucksack and handed one to everyone. You ate in silence deliberately not looking at Ichigo. However, you could feel his eyes on you; you shifted in discomfort.

After everyone had finished eating Ichigo stood up and walked off in silence. You watched him until he wasn't visible anymore because of the trees. You felt a tear form between your eyelashes. "He's mad at me now…" you thought, fighting back tears.

Rukia nudged your shoulder. "Go chase him" she whispered in your ear. You did as you were told but within five minutes you found yourself lost in the trees and what's more- it had started to rain.

Suddenly, you heard someone crying. " I wonder if they're lost like me." you thought. You wandered further into the trees and found…

"Ichigo?"

He turned around sharply and you were surprised to see tears in his eyes, much like your own. No-one had ever seen Ichigo cry since his mother died.

He caught your eye, looked shocked for a second and ran off in the opposite direction. You ran after him, not wanting to lose him in the dense trees.

"Ichigo- come back!" you called desperately, splashing through puddles

"Go away" he replied "I'm sick of all the pretending"

Shocked, you responded. "W-what?" "You know what I'm talking about." Ichigo said "You pretend to care about me and it's all a lie. I love you, Inoue, and I thought you loved me too. When I saw you with Uryū it broke my heart. You know what? Screw it…"

Suddenly you felt his lips on yours. Startled, you froze but as the shock wore off, you realised what was happening: Ichigo was kissing you! This was all you had ever wanted for a long time. You started to kiss back, without realising that you were gradually moving backwards. You hit a tree with a bump but you didn't stop. Butterflies exploded in your stomach.

Finally you broke apart, you opened your eyes to find Ichigo gazing back at you. You held eye contact for a few seconds while you felt the cool rain running down your face. A single drop of rain ran down Ichigo's face, mingling with his tears.

He was the first to break the silence. "I shouldn't have done that- you want Uryū…" he said. You raised a hand to his face, wiping off the water from his cheek.

"But I do love you, silly." you whispered "Uryū doesn't mean as much to me as you do."

"But he likes you!" said Ichigo in desperation.

"W-what?" you stuttered.

"I've seen him look at you in class- it made me want to rip his eyes out!" Ichigo replied.

"Then why would he help me try to impress you?" you questioned.

"You were trying to impress me? Well, in that case, I think he's finally realized you don't feel the same way…" Ichigo responded with a sigh. He pulled you closer. "Orihime, I love you" he whispered.

"I love you too, Kurosaki-kun." you whispered back.

"You have no idea how long I have waited to hear that." Ichigo laughed. "Oh I think I do…" you replied. Standing on your tiptoes, you reached up a kissed him lightly on the lips.

You left the trees hand in hand and as you emerged into the sunlight, you realized that the rain had stopped and the clouds were parting. Rukia spotted you and grinned.

"Told you everything would be fine, didn't I?" she said cheerfully. Ichigo put his arm around you and said: "Wait you were in on this too?"

"Sure I was! What did you expect?" Rukia replied. "Anyway, tonight there's a firework display on by the river. I was thinking after we had all finished up here we could head over there."

Mixed replies of "Sure", "Sounds good" and "Cool" came from the group of people.

After everyone had finished eating, Chad repacked everything in his backpack and they headed out to the river. By the time they had gotten out of the park and arrived at the river the first stars had begun to emerge. Tatsuki laid out the rug and everyone sat down on the slope leading down to the river .

As the first fireworks exploded in chaotic pattern of colour, Renji put his arm around Rukia. Not wanting to be beaten by Renji, he kissed you. Suddenly, fireworks went off inside of you as well as in the sky. Several wolf-whistles came from the crowd but you didn't care.

Uryū and Chizuru both looked like they'd been slapped in the face.

Michiru laughed until Chizuru recovered from her shock and attempted to pounce on her instead. Uryū simply averted his eyes and focused on the fireworks.

Suddenly you realised that you were near where Ichigo's mother had died. You snuggled up closer wanting to comfort him.

He squeezed you tighter and kissed the top of your head.

You wanted to stay like this forever, in Ichigo's arms with the cool night air blowing across your face with the fireworks sparkling in deep shades of ruby, emerald, sapphire and gold.

Ichigo pulled a blanket out of his gym bag and wrapped it around you so you wouldn't get cold.

You breathed in his scent and felt free for the first time since Sora died. Tatsuki looked over at you and smiled. "So she finally did it" she thought happily.

You felt your eyes began to droop and you could fell yourself getting tired. Putting your head on his shoulder, you curled up and fell asleep where Ichigo watched you sleep in the dancing lights and shadows of the fireworks.


End file.
